Culture watchers are likely familiar with Katherine von Drachenberg, better known as “Kat Von D,” a reality television star whose work as a tattoo artist, among other professional pursuits, has put her on the national entertainment map for the last few decades.
Eclectic, eccentric, and unorthodox, the Mexican-American creative got wrapped up in some very dangerous and destructive spheres over the years, embracing witchcraft and the occult.
But it was last summer when the artist revealed she was giving up this wickedness, characterizing them as “macabre.” Writing on Instagram to her millions of followers, she featured a photograph displaying witchcraft books and tarot cards, among other things.
“I don’t know if any of you have been going through changes in your lives right now, but in the last few years I’ve come to some pretty meaningful realizations — many of them revolving around the fact that I got a lot of things wrong in my past,” she wrote.
She continued:
“Today, I went through my entire library, and threw out books that just don’t align with who I am and who I want to be … I’ve always found beauty in the macabre, but at this point, I just had to ask myself what is my relationship with this content? And the truth is, I just don’t want to invite any of these things into our family’s lives, even if it comes disguised in beautiful covers, collecting dust on my shelves.”
Followers were left wondering and others hoping the influencer was turning away from the dark and into the light. But from last summer until now there has been lots of speculation but no specificity suggesting why she was renouncing the wickedness of those pursuits.
Until this past Thursday.
Communicating again on Instagram this past Tuesday, Kat Von D shared a video of her baptism, which reportedly took place inside a church in Vevay, Indiana, her current hometown.
“Katherine von Drachenberg,” says the minister, “upon your profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in obedience to his divine command, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Wearing a white robe, Drachenberg is then fully immersed in water. She comes up smiling and then hugs her pastor.
The conversion of Katherine von Drackenberg has made headlines across the world, and understandably so. And while it might be something of a foreign concept to many in secular spheres, spiritual transformation is as big as it gets in our culture.
“You change your life by changing your heart,” urged pastor and bestselling author Max Lucado. Charles Spurgeon, a pastor of another era, once observed, “You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.”
The baptism of “Kat Von D” is a reminder that the many personalities in culture are not playing a fixed role. Transformation is not just something we pray for – but it’s a prayer that God will answer.
We know that before he was Paul the great evangelist, he was Saul the persecutor of Christians. God can take the worst and make it the best.
We join in celebrating the conversion and baptism of Katherine von Drackenberg – may the Lord give her strength and continue to surround her with strong Christians who can disciple and help her deepen her faith in Him.
